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Funding continued for emergency preparedness, disaster recovery

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Emergency Management

The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners has announced continuation of the matching grant program for emergency preparedness and disaster recovery for fiscal year 2018-2019.

Lincoln County’s Emergency Preparedness Matching Grant program, initiated in 2011 by the County Commissioners, assists local communities with achieving disaster preparedness goals to strengthen community resiliency.

A total of $25,000 was initially budgeted annually for eligible recipients to apply for a maximum of $2,500 per year.

Eligible recipients invited to participate are cities, fire districts, schools and tribes.

More than $170,000 has been awarded to 19 recipients between 2011 and 2017 and $340,000 community benefit with matching contributions.

Program overview, video excerpt, application and more can be found at: https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/boc/page/emergency-preparedness-matching-grant-program

 

Transient man arrested following disturbance at Community Center

Dwight Masterson

Lincoln City Police arrested a homeless man from St. Helens for disorderly conduct and menacing that occurred Thursday at the Lincoln City Senior Center.

Dwight Masterson, 48, was arrested in the parking lot of the Lincoln City Community Center, 2150 NE Oar Place, after the disturbance warranted officer intervention in the Senior Center, police said.

“Upon learning of his impending arrest, Masterson began to get squirrelly,” Sgt. Oscar Escalante said. “It went downhill fast.”

After some coaxing by officers, Masterson complied with their orders and was taken into custody, Escalante said.

Masterson and his wife, Lucille, had previously been excluded for 30 days from City Hall and City property in a separate incident that occurred Jan. 28.

Masterson was lodged in the Lincoln County Jail.

State liquor commission approves new rules on hemp regulation

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OLCC Hemp

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission approved rules Thursday for regulating industrial hemp that enters into the OLCC regulated marijuana system.

The new industrial hemp rules implement the provisions of House Bill 4089 approved by the Oregon Legislature and signed into law in 2018.

HB 4089 alters the way hemp items can enter the OLCC licensed system.  The change allows for additional OLCC recreational marijuana license types to receive industrial hemp items from growers and handlers registered with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

A key element of the rules requires that hemp items received by OLCC licensees be tracked using a seed-to-sale tracking system; this means hemp items will be tracked using the same Cannabis Tracking System (CTS) required for marijuana and marijuana products.

The new hemp rules can be found on the OLCC website:

https://www.oregon.gov/olcc/Pages/index.aspx

The Commission also approved the following fines and/or marijuana license suspensions or license surrenders based on stipulated settlements:

CR HEALTHY OPTIONS* will pay a fine of $1,485 or serve a nine day recreational marijuana producer license suspension for one violation.

Licensees are Linda Mayfield, Co-Licensee; Larry Mayfield, Co-Licensee.

Phillips Field Facility* will pay a fine of $7,755 or serve a 47-day recreational marijuana producer license suspension for two violations.

Licensee is Phillip Field Facility, LLC; Susan Phillips, Member.

Kleen Karma Gardens* will pay a fine of $2,640 or serve a 16-day recreational marijuana producer license suspension for two violations.

Licensee is Kleen Karma Gardens, Inc.; Oregon Care 4 You, LLC, Stockholder; Mark Mobray, Pres/Sec/Dir/Member; Kimberly Bottaro, VP/Director.

Lunchbox Alchemy*; will pay a fine of $8,415 or serve a 51-day recreational marijuana processor license suspension for two violations.

Licensee is CHC Laboratories, LLC; Cameron Yee, Managing Member.

Gorgeous Green Farms*; will pay a fine of $7,260 or serve a 44-day recreational marijuana producer license suspension for three violations.

Licensee is Gorgeous Green Farms, LLC, Dungey Holdings, LLC, Member; Scott Dungey, Member; F&P Investments, LLC, Member; Jeffrey Froug, Member.

Panda Farms*; will surrender its producer license on the date the transfer of ownership of the business is completed or at 7 a.m. on May 21, 2019, whichever is earlier, and each licensee agrees to accept a letter of reprimand for nine violations.

Licensee is Geiger Industries, LLC; Kali Mata, LLC, Managing Member; Nitin Khanna, Managing Member; Karan Khanna, Member; Portsmouth Enterprises, Managing Member; David Alport, Stockholder.

*The locations of OLCC marijuana producer, processor and wholesale licensees are exempt from public disclosure under Oregon law.

A copy of the Stipulated Settlement Agreements for Marijuana Violation Cases can be found on the OLCC website, on the Laws & Rules page under the Final Orders section.

Eight is Enough: Taft suits up record contingent for State wrestling

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Veterans Memorial Coliseum will host the OSAA State Wrestling Championships beginning Friday

Taft High hopes the road is paved with gold – not ice – as it travels to Portland today to compete in the Class 3A OSAA Wrestling Championships.

Precious gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded and the top six wrestlers honored Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the Tigers hope to advance any number of competitors among a school-record contingent during preliminaries Friday.

Taft coach Robb Ellis, in his second year as a head high school varsity wrestling coach, saw eight Tigers accept a date with State last Saturday at the Special District 1 (SD1) meet in Warrenton — three more than the previous team high.

“We will be looking to see if we can become the most successful Taft wrestling team ever by having two wrestlers place sixth or better in their 12-man brackets,” Ellis said. “We had a very good District tournament, probably one of the best that Taft has had in a long, long time.”

The Tigers placed third behind defending State champion Willamina and Dayton at the SD1 meet at Warrenton High. Champions in each weight class from Oregon’s four districts are seeded first through fourth at State, with the remaining qualifiers randomly drawn and placed in 12-man brackets.

“The draws can make or break a wrestler, but from what I have seen, we got some good draws this year,” Ellis said. “I think several of our wrestlers are in a position where they could make the ‘Walk of Champions,’ where those who are guaranteed to place walk around the Coliseum as a group before the placing matches. We could see two or three end up on the podium by placing sixth or better.”

Lon French’s Special District 1 Championship photos

District champion Cody Knott

Senior Cody Knott has the best chance of achieving success as Taft’s only seeded wrestler entering the tournament, Ellis said. Knott is positioned third after winning the 160-pound SD1 title.

Senior Gio Salazar, who won an overtime semifinal match to reach the finals and place second at Districts, will take the mat after barely missing a State appearance last season, “so this was very exciting for him,” Ellis said.

Taft will blend youth with experience when freshman Riley Ellis and sophomore William Calderon represent the school in the 138-pound class. Ellis placed second and Calderon third at Districts.

“Both are having a great start to their wrestling careers,” Ellis said. “Riley did have some wrestling experience in junior high, but William is a first-year wrestler and it is quite an honor for him to go to State.”

Taft wrestlers pick up their participant passes Thursday for Friday’s 6:30 a.m. weigh-in

More leadership will take the mat as the Tigers move into the middle and heavier weight classes. David Jin advanced to State with a second-place showing at 170, while fellow seniors DeVon Lindquist (145) and Eric Aquino (195), and junior Jace Phippen (220) will take third-place efforts into the championships.

Taft seniors Jacob Mayoral and Biz Byrum, and sophomore Jose Flores barely missed out on advancing to State. The Tigers will also be without senior and 2017 State qualifier Jace Fostveit, who has an injured shoulder and missed Districts, costing the Tigers a chance to catch second-place Dayton, which finished seven points ahead of Taft.

“But Dayton and other teams have had their own losses of wrestlers to injury throughout the season. It is a part of wrestling and athletics, in general,” Ellis said. “We will just have to go out and relax and wrestle the best we can and see what happens. The State tournament always has a lot of surprises, and I hope that Taft wrestlers will have things go their way.”

Tournament schedule

Select “Championship Schedule” for an overall timeline

Select “Full Banded Schedule” for bouts/sessions schedule (Bouts are not preassigned to a specific mat. Each classification is assigned a block of mats that might fluctuate).

Ticket information/brackets/results/team scores

Veterans Memorial Coliseum locator map

Rep. Gomberg responds to state’s rent control proposal

Gomberg Rent Control

Oregon House Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis) speaks on Senate Bill 608 in a follow-up letter to Homepage:

Oregon is facing a statewide housing crisis which affects families and retirees in a very real way across the 10th House District.

Most of our landlords are reasonable, fair, and work to do right by their tenants. But unreasonable rent increases and no-cause evictions are destabilizing some of our most vulnerable renters. As a result, Senate Bill 608 (Tenant Protections) is moving rapidly through the 2019 session. The bill is a carefully crafted set of compromises that attempts to balance landlord and tenant concerns. Each side wanted more; each side compromised. Landlord and tenant organizations now support the bill.

Should small “mom and pop” landlords have to pay moving expenses when they renovate rentals?

Should rents be allowed to increase more than 10 percent a year.

Should no-cause evictions be allowed in the first year of occupancy?

Here is a summary of the 608 compromises:

Just Cause Eviction: During the first 12 months of occupancy, a tenant can be evicted (with proper notice) for any reason. After the first year, evictions are only allowed for cause. A fixed term lease must be renewed unless there is legal cause not to do so.

Landlord Based Evictions: A landlord may terminate tenancy if they sell a unit, demolish, rehab or repair, or are moving a family member in. Ninety days’ notice is required and the landlord must pay one month’s rent in relocation assistance. This payment is waived for landlords with four or fewer units.

Extreme Rent Increases: Landlords may not increase a tenant’s rent by more than 7% + consumer price index in a 12-month period.  Current law already prohibits rent increases in first year of month-to-month tenancy and requirements 90-day notice of rent increases.

New Construction: New construction is exempted for 15 years after certificate of occupancy

I have often argued that too many regulations discourage the building or buying of rental investments on the Coast, and encourage smaller landlords to take properties out of the monthly rental market and instead change to nightly vacation rentals. We need to protect renters from abuse. We also need to build more affordable housing. My challenge is to make sure that our rural district is not harmed by solutions to Portland problems.

SB 608 is scheduled for a possible work session in the House Committee Human Services and Housing Wednesday, Feb. 20.

Rep. Gomberg unmasks St. James Santiago students’ artwork at Capitol

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David Gomberg

State Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis) showed off the artwork of a group of St. James Santiago School students during a trip to the Capitol building in Salem on Wednesday.

Clay masks from the students’ African studies last year line the representative’s office gallery wall.

Gomberg talked to the kids about some of his favorite artwork in the Capitol building and introduced the students during a Legislative session.

“Mediterranean food and a trip to Hallie Ford Museum of Art finished a great day for students and parent and staff chaperones,” St. James Santiago School Administrator Julie Fiedler said.

 

All students safe following gas leak at Taft Elementary

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Taft elementary gas leak

All students were evacuated but safe after workers with the Lincoln County School District inadvertently struck a one-inch gas pipe with a backhoe while rerouting a sewer line at Taft Elementary School today.

“We did a secondary sweep of the school to make sure everyone was out,” said North Lincoln Fire & Rescue Safety Officer Jim Kusz after students were evacuated to nearby Taft High 7-12 at approximately 11:10 a.m. “School officials did a good job pulling the fire alarm and getting the kids out.”

taft Gas Leak
A firefighter inspects damage to the venting pipe

Northwest Natural Gas engineers shut down the line that is venting and repairs have begun.

Students will be sent back to the school at 4040 High School Dr. shortly.

Depoe Bay Fire and Rescue, Lincoln City Police and Pacific Power assisted.

UPDATE: School officials issued an all-clear text message to parents at 12:37 p.m.

 

From the Sheriff: Safety belt and child seat law

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Child safety belt law
Photo by Justin Werner

SAFETY BELT & CHILD SEAT LAWS

The following general information regarding safety belt and child restraint laws comes from the Oregon Department of Transportation Safety Division.

ADULT BELT LAW

Oregon law requires that all motor vehicle operators and passengers be properly secured with a safety belt or safety harness, unless all safety-belt equipped seating positions are occupied by other persons. Vehicle owners are required to maintain belt systems in working order. This applies to passenger cars, pick up trucks, motorhomes, and fee-based people transport carrying fifteen or fewer persons. Limited exemptions are allowed under ORS 811.215.

CHILD RESTRAINT LAW

Child passengers must be restrained in child safety seats until they weigh forty-pounds or reach the upper weight limit for the car seat in use. Infants must ride rear-facing until they reach both one year of age and twenty-pounds.

BOOSTER SEAT LAW

Children over forty-pounds or who have reached the upper weight limit for their forward-facing car seat must use boosters to 4’9″ tall or age eight and the adult belt fits correctly.

REAR SEATING FOR CHILDREN
There is no Oregon law specifically prohibiting children from riding in the front seat of passenger vehicles.  However, a rear-facing infant seat cannot be placed in a front seating position that is equipped with an airbag because this would violate Oregon’s requirement for “proper use” of a child safety seat.  There is a national “best practice recommendation” calling for rear seating through age twelve.

NATIONAL “BEST PRACTICE” RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) experts from the U.S. Department of Transportation have published guidelines which would keep children in each type of child seat longer than Oregon law prescribes, in addition to back seating through age twelve.  Click this link to download the latest National Best Practices Recommendations.

BELT OR BOOSTER?

Belt fit can vary greatly from one vehicle to another and one child to another. If your child meets Oregon’s legal requirements for moving from a booster seat to safety belt but you still have doubts about whether your child fits in the belt in your particular vehicle, then the following simple test can help. Place your child in the vehicle without a booster seat and then ask these questions. Until you can answer yes to all of the questions, your child should stay in a booster seat.

1. Can the child sit all the way back against the vehicle seat?
2. Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the seat?
3. Does the shoulder belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay comfortably seated like this for the whole trip?

MOTOR HOMES

Motor homes are considered passenger vehicles under Oregon law and as such, adult belt and child seat requirements apply also to motor homes — but only to forward-facing vehicle seating positions (those meeting federal safety standards for seat belt anchorages). Occupants should utilize all forward-facing belted positions before using side or rear-facing positions.

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

Oregon’s safety belt law requires occupants of privately-owned commercial vehicles transporting 15 or fewer persons to use safety restraints including occupants of shuttles, taxis, limousines and vans.  Among these types of vehicles, taxi cab drivers are the only occupants exempted from this rule.

We encourage everyone to always be properly buckled into their seat belt and to correctly keep children in the appropriate safety seat. It can save lives.

For more information and tips, visit our web site at www.lincolncountysheriff.net and Like us on Facebook at Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office – Oregon.

Lincoln City Public Art Committee seeks to fill two vacancies

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Lincoln City public arts committee

The Lincoln City Public Art Committee, the appointed advisory body that works to enliven and beautify the town with art installations, is looking for two new members.

Applications are available at Lincoln City Hall, 801 SW Highway 101, or at lincolncity.org (“Boards and Committees”).

The Public Art Committee was formed in 2005 to improve the quality of life in the city by allowing residents and visitors to view and interact with art in public places. The committee makes recommendation on the acquisition, installation and maintenance of publicly-owned art in city buildings and properties, using the city’s innovative Percent for Art Program.

Through this program the city sets aside one-half of 1 percent of the total cost of qualifying capital improvement projects for the design, purchase, and siting of public art projects within city limits. In addition, the Public Art Committee may receive allocations from the General Fund and may also apply for outside grant funding to accomplish its goals.

The list of public art works created through the Percent for Art program is long, and includes the whimsical creatures in front of the Lincoln City Community Center, Sparky the Wish Dragon at Regatta Park, the Cascade Head Sculpture at NW 18th St., “Dancing Water” at Hostetler Park and Joe the Sea Lion on SW 35th St. The program also installed colorful mosaic murals at the Jennifer Sears Glass Studio, the Community Center and on public restrooms in the Wecoma neighborhood.

Currently, the committee is working on a number of different projects. Among the goals is the commission of a major artwork, with high visibility and scale, and with a budget of $70,000-$120,000.

The Public Arts Committee typically meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 4:15 p.m. at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NE Highway 101 in Lincoln City. Committee members are appointed by the City Council, and serve three-year terms.

There are two positions available. One is for a citizen who lives within the city limits. The other position can be filled by a resident who lives in the city, or within the area served by Taft 7-12, including Gleneden Beach, Coronado Shores, Otis and Rose Lodge.

To apply, pick up a Committee Volunteer Application Packet at City Hall, or download the form from lincolncity.org, or call 541-996-2151. Applicants must agree to a background check, and complete interviews with members of the Lincoln City Council.

One-day childbirth class offered at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital

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SNLH childbirth class

Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital is offering a one-day intensive childbirth class on Sunday, March 24, from noon to 6 p.m.

Expecting a baby can be an exciting and anxious time for pregnant women. A bit of good information can help remove some of the worry and create a memorable experience.

Maternity nurses Stephanie Marshall, RN, and Trista Selfridge, RN, will lead the class. Topics include:

  • Preparing for the challenges of labor and delivery.
  • Learning about breastfeeding, relaxation techniques, what to expect when you arrive at the hospital, postpartum care, newborn care and more.
  • Addressing your fears by connecting with your partner or labor coach.
  • Discussing options for handling pain.
  • Learning about the basics of medical interventions and possible complications.

The class is free for those who plan to deliver at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital’s Family Birthing Center. Refreshments and snacks will be provided, along with the opportunity to tour the Family Birthing Center.

Registration is required by calling 541-996-7179.